A feature on GameInformer offers a look at how Garrett is being redesigned for the upcoming revival of the Thief series, showing how Eidos Montréal is re-envisioning the game's protagonist, while being sensitive to fans who may not appreciate too drastic an overhaul. They have a video showing old and new Garrett artwork that features Nicolas Cantin and Steven Gallagher discusses their efforts, drawing comparisons with their work on the Altair character from the Assassins' Creed series.

Good news. They posted an update clarifying some of the things said in the vid.

"Hey guys, I think I might not have illustrated some of my points clearly on the video. It’s not correct to say that we’re trying to make Thief ‘mainstream’, or that we’re trying to make Garrett ‘less gothic’... This isn’t the case.

I was referring specifically to a previous Garrett design we tried out internally and not Garrett from the previous games. Our early design went a LOT more gothic – with black nails etc - but we thought that this wasn’t true to the legacy of Garrett so we pulled it back a bit. Returning to something more true to the original Garrett is what I meant when I said we made him more ‘mainstream’, this wasn’t a comment about the direction of the game.

I can assure you we’re huge fans of the original games and we’ve done our homework to create a game that maintains the essence of the original. I can’t wait to show you more of the game and Garrett soon!”

aesir05 wrote on Mar 15, 2013, 04:07:Thief 3 was brilliant, some ppl can never be happy, however this looks like thief's creed coz AC doesn't have a good enough competitor ATM and ubi is just milking it as fast as they can. Eidos just wants a slice. I'll probably buy it.

Thief 3 was ass. It's easy to understand why you'd be interested in this one.Thief was a stealth game and designed as such, not an action game. Make it an action game, it isn't Thief.

Thief 3 was brilliant, some ppl can never be happy, however this looks like thief's creed coz AC doesn't have a good enough competitor ATM and ubi is just milking it as fast as they can. Eidos just wants a slice. I'll probably buy it.

TheWitcher wrote on Mar 14, 2013, 20:50:"Action" and "Thief" shouldn't be in the same sentence.

Can someone just send me back to 1997 already. I'll take the technology with me, too.

It's unfair to say Thief couldn't be action oriented. You could play it as such, the ideal was to be stealthy though. So long as that remains there's no reason why you can't do both - as it was in the original games.

“That's it. You people have stood in my way long enough. I'm going to clown college!”

Okay so this is being designed for consoles. Strike one.The character looks like a gothic Altair. Strike two.The gameplay looks more action packed. Strike three.

I think games are not being designed for me tastes, I'm not the target demographic. What the fuck does a ragged half cape give you if you are trying to stay stealthy? It does nothing! So we have a character that is really an assassin who likes to steal on the side. I have low hopes.

I love me some Thief, but..........when your first two items of change are "less gothic" and "more action," it is not a good feeling.

Can nobody make a good sequel to Thief 2?

I will keep an eye on this, but I am not feeling too hopeful. Looking at some of the screenshots from GI, it reminds me of Dishonored and the talk of standing in groups conjures images of AC. Even if they played Thief, did they understand it?Well, they did say they were going to "fix" the series.Rest in peace, Looking Glass Studios. Rest in peace.

Blackhawk wrote on Mar 14, 2013, 11:44:[...]You sound like my nine year old being offered a new food he's never tried. There's no way to know if it is going to suck. It may be a great game.[...]

If your nine year old turned out to be like that after years of being offered new variations of his most beloved dishes which then turn out to be complete rubbish then this analogy would be a little bit closer to the truth.

You missed the point. [...]

I would not necessarily say that. It's just that so many people have been burned with new, modernised, consolised, remakes of their old beloved games that they just don't expect anything good anymore.You keep an open mind but not everyone does that and sometimes I don't even know whether I can blame them.

"Time's moved on, so I mean we're not still in 1998, but the character was there."

And so was the gameplay, you pompous ass. Loved the first two. This one sounds like it's gonna be yet another shitty, consolized, QTE-fest. May as well also make it FTP, multiplayer, over-the-shoulder, and H&H. I'm not interested in more console dreck.

dheer wrote on Mar 14, 2013, 15:41:go ahead and make trailers with fighting, backstabbing, blood and some crappy music of the day

Actually in all seriousness you made me remember that the trailers and gameplay footage for Thief 2 were an awful lot more actiony than the game actually was, depending on how you played of course. Lots and lots of arrows taking down guards, sword fighting with Haunts and the like. I'm still pessimistic but what you say is not out of the realm of possibility.

I'm trying my best to give this the benefit of the doubt. It certainly makes me want to grind my teeth.

I hope they have to say some of these things for marketing purposes only. I get it, go ahead and make trailers with fighting, backstabbing, blood and some crappy music of the day, so you can sell it to the mass of idiots out there. The bills have to be paid.

Just leave the core game play of what makes a Thief game alone please.

Cutter wrote on Mar 14, 2013, 15:06:I feel like a father who finds out his kids love the newer Star Wars episodes more than the original trilogy. Then is horrified to realize all their friends agree. More action, better special effects - and more Jar Jar! Just like I feel every time I read a young gamer who says Thief Deadly Shadows was better than the originals and Deus Ex Human Revolution was way better than the first one on account of how ugly it was. It's a losing battle, man. Just step back and cherish your memories.

Blackhawk wrote on Mar 14, 2013, 11:44:[...]You sound like my nine year old being offered a new food he's never tried. There's no way to know if it is going to suck. It may be a great game.[...]

If your nine year old turned out to be like that after years of being offered new variations of his most beloved dishes which then turn out to be complete rubbish then this analogy would be a little bit closer to the truth.

You missed the point. The point is that it is foolish to dismiss something as awful when, not only have you never tried it, it doesn't even actually exist yet.

It won't be a new Thief game. I know that, and it is disappointing. I still have Thief Gold and 2, plus tons of fan missions I can replay as often as I like. There is a possibility, though, that this will be a brand new game that may be fun. It may not - I don't know. It doesn't exist yet.

If it sucks, I don't lose anything. I still have the old games, and there are hundreds of games I'm not interested in. Adding one more doesn't hurt me.

If it doesn't suck - guess what? There will be a new series that I might enjoy, if for entirely different reasons than the original Thief games.